As we enter into the final month of 2018 and look ahead to the coming year, we are delighted to share our plans for new programming, developed in line with the 2019 priorities recently released by the Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis.
MOAS will continue to operate in Bangladesh, running training and capacity-building projects in partnership with other NGOs and agencies in the field. Our interventions will be focused on flood and landslide rescue, water safety, and the provision of humanitarian services to remote or inaccessible areas. Our shift is based on the JRP requirement for organisations working in Cox’s Bazar to build capacity and maintain services throughout 2019, and to focus on preventing deaths during the flood and monsoon season.
This week, the MOAS team on the ground is launching new training initiatives. These will act as pilot projects for our 2019 programming which will be rolled out in January, with the aim of reaching as many people as possible before the start of the rainy season in June.
As we draw our 2018 programming to a close, we are also determined not to jeopardise access to healthcare for all those who have come to rely on the MOAS Aid Stations in Shamlapur and Unchiprang. We have therefore finalised an agreement with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), who will be taking over use of the MOAS assets and sites to continue to provide primary healthcare to refugees and host communities in those areas. We are pleased to see the IRC taking over the running of the Aid Stations, and confident that service-users will benefit from their expertise.
The hand-over to the IRC happened today, Saturday 1st December 2018, and our team was there in full support. MOAS Director, Regina, said: “MOAS is incredibly proud of the achievements we have had in the Aid Stations, with over 90,000 patients treated thus far. Our teams have constructed, maintained and run excellent centres dedicated to providing the highest quality of care to the crisis affected community. We will continue to lend our resources and expertise to this crisis in the most effective ways we can and we look forward to expanding our new programming throughout the next month and well into the next year.”
For more information or to speak to one of our press officers please email [email protected]